A fusion of crisp production, dynamic composition and 'avant-bogan sentiment', Brisbane jazz trio Milton Man Gogh return with their forthcoming album, ‘How To Be Big & Small (At The Same Time)’.
Inspired by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, the experimental trio formed as an outlet for the members to play original compositions that no one else wanted to play.
As for the band's name. It arrived after a session drinking a few XXXXs. “We had a few beers and some XXXX Golds with us,” begins the group's drummer, Ben Shannon.
“Milton Man Gogh came up [as a band name], and we chuckled and thought we should just roll with it, because many jazz bands take themselves a bit too seriously we thought it’d be funny to do the opposite.
“We’re really serious about the music, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously, so it’s kind of like the Australian bogan edition of a jazz band while also taking a bit of the piss out of Vincent van Gogh.”
Plenty of time and effort was put into their latest recording. “With the new album, we’re a little bit more serious with the artwork, and we got some cool guests on it.
"We recorded it about a year ago now, so we’ve had a lot longer timeframe to mix and master as opposed to the last two releases.”
The result is the amalgamation of the core influences from each of the members: jazz, prog, contemporary classical and metal.
The group's latest artwork is arguably their best yet and was created by the same artist as their previous album. "The artwork is actually one of my drum students I have had for a number of years who’s a really awesome free-lance graphic designer and artist in her own right.
"I asked her about doing the artwork for the first album, so she came up with that; we don’t really need to give her too much direction, she’s really talented.
"For the latest album, 'How To Be Big & Small (At The Same Time)', we just gave her the title name and then she came back with the art piece. We definitely feel like she’s part of the band and gets a massive say in artwork and the overall image and aesthetic of the band."
Milton Man Gogh’s debut album, 'Stress To Impress', was released in 2017. The band then released their sophomore effort, 'XXXX Bitter Irony', last year. This album earned the band a nomination for Best Young Jazz Artist at the Australian Jazz Awards (the BELLS) and a highly commended nod at the Queensland Music Awards.
